# So I almost bought a box of fake esplendidos tonight!



## gegtik (May 1, 2007)

Hey guys!

I'd been talking with a guy over the past week or two that I contacted via craigslist, and he was offering a box for $350 which is a good deal. I was a bit suspicious at the price, but wanted to meet up to see if it was the real deal!

After many missed connections, we finally met up tonight, and I came armed with this info: http://havanajournal.com/cigars/cohibas-box

Sure enough, the box had a warranty label that wasn't properly stuck to the box (like a cheap stamp), and it was printed in a really bright, fake xmas tree kinda green instead of the deep currency green it oughtta. I opened the box and the label inside was a really shoddy cohiba sticker replete with wavy borders, indistinct printing, and no bevel to the sticker.

I told the guy he had a box of fakes and he looked like he got punched in the gut.. I'm pretty sure he had no idea (he'd been smoking another box of these since he got back from cuba in may). I asked where he'd gotten em, and he said he 'knew a guy who worked in a store' or somesuch.. say no more 

Anyhow I've emailed him the link to this site so hopefully he will show up sometime soon so we can help educate him against any further ripoffs


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## dahigman (Jul 4, 2005)

Just as the saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". I think it is always better to risk loosing a "deal" than getting ripped off. It was nice of you to help educate him (sucks to be him though). 

Did he like the ones he had smoked? If so, all is not lost.


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## Smoked (Apr 12, 2007)

Most of the time just smelling them will give them away. I have two fakes and they smell nothing like a fine cigar should.


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## havana_lover (Feb 15, 2007)

aaahhhhhh, one of those.... My sisters boyfriends cousins friend, who walks the dog got them for ya.. well brother then they must be real :r


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## pnoon (Jun 8, 2005)

Smoked said:


> Most of the time just smelling them will give them away. I have two fakes and they smell nothing like a fine cigar should.


I am by no means an expert at spotting fakes but I do know an awful lot of experienced smokers of Habanos. I don't know any one of them who claims to identify a fake by smell.


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## Bigwaved (May 20, 2006)

pnoon said:


> I am by no means an expert at spotting fakes but I do know an awful lot of experienced smokers of Habanos. I don't know any one of them who claims to identify a fake by smell.


Well, there are those bubble gum ones...they seem to be distinct enough in smell.


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## dahigman (Jul 4, 2005)

Bigwaved said:


> Well, there are those bubble gum ones...they seem to be distinct enough in smell.


Dave (Da Klugs) has a bit of experience with those

It took me a while to find this :r

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22588


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## Smoked (Apr 12, 2007)

Every fake that I have smelled smelled like crap. Of course I have only smelled a few but they were far from cuban.


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## BigVito (Jan 1, 2000)

could someone in Fla go smell Carlos, I wanna see if he is real.


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## DriftyGypsy (May 24, 2006)

Smoked said:


> Every fake that I have smelled smelled like crap. Of course I have only smelled a few but they were far from cuban.


Now is this "crap" smell while smoking them or when you open the box... I really hope it is not when you open the box...


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## stormin (Feb 11, 2005)

pnoon said:


> I am by no means an expert at spotting fakes but I do know an awful lot of experienced smokers of Habanos. I don't know any one of them who claims to identify a fake by smell.


My dog can smell a fake @ 100 yards. He can tell you where it was made, who made it and what the roller had for dinner. Let me know if you ever want to borrow him.


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## Navydoc (Jan 26, 2005)

pnoon said:


> I am by no means an expert at spotting fakes but I do know an awful lot of experienced smokers of Habanos. I don't know any one of them who claims to identify a fake by smell.


First thing I do when I get a new box is open it and take a big long sniff....that barnyard aroma speaks volumes to me....not that I suspect fakes but of the fakes I have encountered none of them had any kind of decent smell.....in my limited experience of course


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

BigVito said:


> could someone in Fla go smell Carlos, I wanna see if he is real.


Perry,
After reading this, I went and smelled my wife (46 yr aged Cuban) looking for that chit smell, then she smelled me (48 yr aged Cuban), then we smelled a neighbor for comparison (Non Cuban), then the dogs........................yes, there was a difference.:r


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## muziq (Mar 14, 2005)

Congrats, gegtik, on a good catch. You went about it the right way--check it out before buying. It's so tempting to pull the trigger with little to no info on these sorts of things. Cooler heads always prevail.


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## Funnymantrip (Oct 28, 2004)

Question a bit outside of the orgional question. For all those people who go to the island and get a box of cigars from the sisters neighbors brothers long lost uncle. Are not the odds, that they are Cuban tobacco, just not Cohibas or montes or upmanns. They at least have to be a step up from Pinars, right.


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

pnoon said:


> I am by no means an expert at spotting fakes but I do know an awful lot of experienced smokers of Habanos. I don't know any one of them who claims to identify a fake by smell.


Not an expert, but I've smoked Habanos daily over 10 years. 9 out of 10 times I can tell a fake by smelling the foot of the cigar. Believe it or not, makes no difference to me. A lot of fakes are not Cuban tobacco, and smell nothing like it. The ones that use Cuban leaf are usually given away by construction. No triple caps, etc. There are a few that have been good enough that have to be cut open to see the short filler, but that is rare.


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## carni (Jan 18, 2007)

great tale, glad you didnt make the mistake of buying them


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## Boston_Dude05 (Oct 10, 2006)

Getting smokes from craigslist just sounds like a bad idea to me. Very good link you attached. The infamous hologram strikes again.


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## Ivory Tower (Nov 18, 2005)

Navydoc said:


> First thing I do when I get a new box is open it and take a big long sniff....that barnyard aroma speaks volumes to me....not that I suspect fakes but of the fakes I have encountered none of them had any kind of decent smell.....in my limited experience of course


I don't know if I could identify fake vs. real, but I too get that 'barnyard' smell that only habanos have had in my experience--it makes my salivary glands kick into high-gear immediately.


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

Funnymantrip said:


> Question a bit outside of the orgional question. For all those people who go to the island and get a box of cigars from the sisters neighbors brothers long lost uncle. Are not the odds, that they are Cuban tobacco, just not Cohibas or montes or upmanns. They at least have to be a step up from Pinars, right.


No doubt Cuban tobacco that "fell off the truck" but not the same blend primarily.


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## hova45 (Jun 17, 2007)

THat sucks for him, but lucky you are on top of things


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

Blueface said:


> No doubt Cuban tobacco that "fell off the truck" but not the same blend primarily.


If you go to Cuba and buy on the streets it's Cuban leaf. Usually scraps. More than half the ones I've seen in Florida over the years did not have Cuban tobacco. Most smell like cheap Mexican or Dominican tobacco.


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## pnoon (Jun 8, 2005)

Fredster said:


> Not an expert, but I've smoked Habanos daily over 10 years. 9 out of 10 times I can tell a fake by smelling the foot of the cigar. Believe it or not, makes no difference to me. A lot of fakes are not Cuban tobacco, and smell nothing like it. The ones that use Cuban leaf are usually given away by construction. No triple caps, etc. There are a few that have been good enough that have to be cut open to see the short filler, but that is rare.


Fred, I never meant to imply that no one could do so. Just that I have never heard of someone who could. Given your knowledge AND experience, I have no doubt that you can do so. But most people cannot. Especially those who have limited to no experience.


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## kurly (May 30, 2007)

Funnymantrip said:


> Question a bit outside of the orgional question. For all those people who go to the island and get a box of cigars from the sisters neighbors brothers long lost uncle. Are not the odds, that they are Cuban tobacco, just not Cohibas or montes or upmanns. They at least have to be a step up from Pinars, right.


I would have to agree with the other people that weighed in on this. But are they fake Cubans? Or just fake Cohibas? Personally I think they are fake Cohibas.

Hahaha, I was so happy to see that someone actually investigated that guy. He's had a posting up for months now on Craig'sList (I search 'cigars' often to see if someone is getting rid of humidors, books, magazine etc.) The post asking for Cigar Aficionado magazine is mine.


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## kurly (May 30, 2007)

Fredster said:


> If you go to Cuba and buy on the streets it's Cuban leaf. Usually scraps. More than half the ones I've seen in Florida over the years did not have Cuban tobacco. Most smell like cheap Mexican or Dominican tobacco.


I definitely wish my smeller was as tuned as that. From time to time I can really pick out the 'fresh from the ol' barn smell' but other than that, I'm blind.

Buying smokes this way in Cuba seems uber risky to me. Luckily, so far, the offerings I've had while there are dead-giveaway fakes. But when you are stealing boxes and ID stickers (etc.) from a factory (as there aren't many Cuban's, as far as I know, that have the means for 'a'-quality reproduction of the stuff) you may end up having to JUST rely on the look and feel of the stick itself.


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## Fredster (Jan 26, 2004)

pnoon said:


> Fred, I never meant to imply that no one could do so. Just that I have never heard of someone who could. Given your knowledge AND experience, I have no doubt that you can do so. But most people cannot. Especially those who have limited to no experience.


No problem brother.


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## gegtik (May 1, 2007)

kurly said:


> I would have to agree with the other people that weighed in on this. But are they fake Cubans? Or just fake Cohibas? Personally I think they are fake Cohibas.
> 
> Hahaha, I was so happy to see that someone actually investigated that guy. He's had a posting up for months now on Craig'sList (I search 'cigars' often to see if someone is getting rid of humidors, books, magazine etc.) The post asking for Cigar Aficionado magazine is mine.


If they're cuban, and they're fake, they're still fake cubans -- I stand by my ambiguous label!


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## moki (Jan 12, 2004)

Whether the tobacco comes from Cuba doesn't really matter that much; there's incredibly lousy tobacco from Cuba. There are many, many factors involved in raising a good crop of tobacco; the soil and climate are two, but how the crop is cared for, how long it is left to grow, how it is cured, how it is fermented, etc, etc. all play significant roles in whether you'd ever want to smoke it or not.

Also in fake cigars, you often are getting farm tobacco, barely cured, and sometimes with other crap rolled in like newspaper, etc.


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## Stonato~ (Dec 22, 2006)

gegtik said:


> Sure enough, the box had a warranty label that wasn't properly stuck to the box (like a cheap stamp), and it was printed in a really bright, fake xmas tree kinda green instead of the deep currency green it oughtta. I opened the box and the label inside was a really shoddy cohiba sticker replete with wavy borders, indistinct printing, and no bevel to the sticker.


my my, where is the pride of workmanship in creating nicely constructed fake Cuban cigars? A shame.


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## Dux (Oct 4, 2006)

Blueface said:


> Perry,
> After reading this, I went and smelled my wife (46 yr aged Cuban) looking for that chit smell, then she smelled me (48 yr aged Cuban), then we smelled a neighbor for comparison (Non Cuban), then the dogs........................yes, there was a difference.:r


ROFL Thanks now that was Funny!!!


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## RJT (Feb 12, 2005)

Fredster said:


> Not an expert, but I've smoked Habanos daily over 10 years. 9 out of 10 times I can tell a fake by smelling the foot of the cigar. Believe it or not, makes no difference to me. A lot of fakes are not Cuban tobacco, and smell nothing like it. The ones that use Cuban leaf are usually given away by construction. No triple caps, etc. There are a few that have been good enough that have to be cut open to see the short filler, but that is rare.


:tpd: Yes I can smell a BIG difference in Cuban tobacco compared to other tobacco.


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## moki (Jan 12, 2004)

RJT said:


> :tpd: Yes I can smell a BIG difference in Cuban tobacco compared to other tobacco.


If you mean properly treated/cured/fermented Cuban tobacco, then I'd buy that.

If you just mean tobacco grown in Cuban, I highly doubt it. I could get you some tobacco leafs that you'd have absolutely no way of knowing where they originated from.


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## Blueface (May 28, 2005)

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Is this real Cuban? :r


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## RJT (Feb 12, 2005)

moki said:


> If you mean properly treated/cured/fermented Cuban tobacco, then I'd buy that.
> 
> Yes that is what I meant...In cigar form. :tu


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## Navydoc (Jan 26, 2005)

moki said:


> If you mean properly treated/cured/fermented Cuban tobacco, then I'd buy that.
> 
> *If you just mean tobacco grown in Cuban*, I highly doubt it. I could get you some tobacco leafs that you'd have absolutely no way of knowing where they originated from.


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